"Today's votes were not a serious effort to pass a budget. After this charade, our nation is no closer to economic prosperity or addressing our massive national debt. I have voted on Republican budgets in the past. It's no secret where I stand, but every measure brought up for a vote today was meant to fail. It is past time Members of Congress hold themselves accountable and do the job they were elected to do, not hold meaningless votes designed for nothing more than campaign press releases. The biggest problem is both sides of the aisle are at fault. Americans watching this debate witnessed exactly what they've come to expect from Washington: Republicans blaming Democrats, Democrats blaming Republicans. At a time when so many in this great nation are struggling to get by, this is all they can get out of Washington."

"When I first came to the Senate, we had a centrist coalition…and moderates lunch every week," she said. "We used to bond together as moderates. Unfortunately that doesn't happen much anymore because there's so few on either side of the political aisle."